W’m’sburg Obama Revelers Tell Cops “We Love You,” Get Swept Anyway

November 6, 2008

Here’s a piquant scene of the happy Obama celebrants who clogged Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg between North 6th and 7th Streets in Brooklyn early Wednesday morning. The riot cops have shown up and the crowd starts chanting “N-Y-P-D!” and then “WE LOVE YOU!” The cops swept the street anyway; you can see some of that after the jump.

The documentarian seems upset that one officer was smashing away camera phones, though to be honest it is never a good idea to attempt a photo-interview with an riot cop while he is in commission of his duty.

Cops tell the Times that the Obama-fest, which at 1:30 a.m. still had about 450 attendees, drew calls to 311 complaining of noise and the blocking of the Avenue, to which they responded. They made three arrests and issued five summonses. One cop was knocked down, another was hit with a bottle, and a third had his thumb broken.

“Even the cops tonight realized that things were cool” at first, says FREEWilliamsburg. “It was the most celebratory street take-over I’ve experienced,” though the correspondent admits that when he left, “there was a definite impending police presence that threatened to turn uncomfortable.” Tons of photos at Brooklyn Vegan, along with comments (“Club all the hipsters”).